Rabat – A three-member family was found suffocated with butane gas in an apartment in Taghazout, near Agadir Sunday evening.
According to the local authorities, the family — composed of a fifty-year-old woman, her 74-year-old mother and her minor son — was a victim of carbon monoxide poisoning. The family had rented a furnished apartment in the tourist complex of Taghazout to spend the weekend and enjoy the good weather.
They had to vacate the house at 4 p.m. on Sunday. But when the owner of the apartment went to claim the keys on Sunday evening, nobody opened the door.
Faced with this situation and after several unsuccessful attempts to reach the tenants, the owner called the local authorities, namely the services of the Royal Gendarmerie, who managed to get into the apartment and discovered three lifeless bodies.
The remains were subsequently transferred to the morgue of the Hassan II regional hospital in Agadir to undergo an autopsy, and the General Prosecutor’s Office has opened an investigation into the case to shed more light on the family’s death.
Preliminary findings pointed to the asphyxiation by a butane gas leak from a water heater as the main cause of the death, but more investigations are ongoing with the aim of determining the exact circumstances of the fatal gas leak.
The tragic incident happens right ahead of the tourist high season. The Souss-Massa region is one of Morocco’s most popular holiday destinations, and the low number of COVID-19 infections, the reopening of borders, as well as the ongoing preparations for the 2022 Marhaba Operation all point to promising prospects for the region’s tourism sector in the coming weeks.
Zakaria El Ouati, General Manager of the Society for the Development and Promotion of the Taghazout resort (SAPST), has said the seaside resort located near Agadir is one of the most appealing holiday destinations among Moroccans.
“Last year, there was no availability in August. We had to turn down many requests. Despite the two components that opened, the resort’s facilities were sold out,” El Ouati said in August 2021.
As Morocco expects a significant increase in the number of tourists, compared to last year, Taghazout Bay is set to remain the “old but gold” destination for many Moroccans.
Read also : Morocco’s Tourism Looks Promising for 2022
